The 24 Best Plants for Shady Areas In Your Garden or Home
These plants will flourish under trees or anywhere direct sun doesn't reach!
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No matter how you plan out your landscaping or garden space, there are always going to be some shady spots. Whether you've got a small tree in the yard, a privacy fence that blocks light along its edge, or another garden object that keeps the light mostly dappled, you can still beautify it with some shade-loving annuals and perennials.
Here are 24 of our favorite shade-loving plants! For more, check out our specific lists for shade-loving perennials and for shade-loving annuals.
Ligularia (Leopard Plant)
These big-leaved perennials have deep green foliage and a variety of pretty flowers that can be flat, like a black-eyed Susan, or fire upward, like the one pictured here.
They do well in most areas with dappled sun.
Varieties to try: Desdemona, Britt-Marie Crawford, The Rocket
Begonias
Begonias can be easy to love! They're happy in the shade, grow well in pots or in the ground, and will bloom constantly with little tending until the first hard frost.
Hostas
These unfussy perennials are much loved by gardeners everywhere. They can thrive in a variety of conditions and there's sure to be a kind that looks great for your garden. They tend to like it best when they get a bit of morning sun, and then shade in the afternoon.
Sweet Potato Vine
This decorative annual grows fast, handles shade well, and likes mildly acidic soil. It's great in pots, where it spills over beautifully, but will need frequent trimming in the ground.
Polka Dot Plant
This garden annual can be grown as an indoor housplant, where it can be perennial. It loves dappled shade. It's known particularly for the paint-splatter-like look of its leaves.
Sedum ternatum
Some varieties of sedum, such as Autumn Joy, need full sun, but ternatum, also called woodland stonecrop, does just fine in the shade. It has white flowers that bloom in the spring, and loves moist spaces.
Astilbe
These popular shade-loving perennials are sometimes called false goat's beard. They've got great foliage that resembles ferns, and look striking along a path when blooming.
Ferns
Ferns naturally do well on the forest floor, so any part of your garden that gets mostly indirect light will suit them. Give these plants plenty of water to get established. They can be drought-tolerant after that.
Lobelia
This shade-tolerant annual does best in moist, well-draining soil. It blooms best in cooler temps, so it's a great one for getting blooms in the early and mid fall!
Hellebore (Lenten Rose)
This shade-perennial makes an excellent ground cover and has strikingly beautiful very early blooms.
Purple Heart Plant
A variety of tradescantia, but with all-purple leaves and even stems, this gorgeous plant can be a shade-tolerant fast-growing groundcover in warmer areas!
Forget-Me-Nots
Though they'll want a bit of sun, especially in Northern areas, forget-me-nots are quite tolerant of spots that get lots of afternoon shade. In the South, especially, they need it.
Lamium (Spotted Dead-nettle)
This shade-loving plant is great for under trees or other dim spots. It crowds out weeds and provides good ground cover, as well as these pretty flowers.
Clematis
Though many varietals of clematis need some sun, there are a few, such as Nelly Mosser, here pictured, that prefer to be entirely shaded—their delicately colored flowers fade in full sun.
Toad Lily
The intricate flowers (spotted like a toad!) are the reason to grow these little gems. They handle shade well, but also do well in sun.
Brunnera
These distinctive shade-lovers do well beneath trees and in other fully shady spots.
Bleeding Heart (Dicentra)
These shade-loving plants are true garden workhorses! They're beloved by pollinators, resistant to deer, with striking flowers, and it loves shade. What more could you ask!
Corydalis
With bell-shaped flowers and ferny foliage, this genus has both sun and shade-loving varieties. There are some stunning blue varieties that will add startling color to your garden.
Lungwort (Pulmonaria)
With sweet tiny spring flowers, this deer-resistant perennial is great for ground cover in shady areas. It's also good for attracting pollinators!
Varieties to try: Raspberry Splash, Sissinghurst White
Digitalis (Foxglove)
Plant these distinctive bell-shaped flowers wherever you want hummingbirds to appear. They do like some sun, but are readily able to handle light shade.
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